Wysteria, page 26
“Really . . . ,” she remarked. “I guess I’m not surprised.”
“He’s been very helpful, very instructive – we even took a trip to his World.”
“What?” said Charlotte, taken aback. “Both of you?”
“Yes – I was able to pull Will along with me,” she told her.
“Wow! I assume with Jeremy’s assistance.”
“‘Assistance’ . . . ?” said Emily, pronouncing the word slowly. “Is that what you’d call it, Will?”
“I suppose so,” he replied, dryly. “Jeremy . . . shoved us in the right direction.”
Emily giggled and shook her head. “Inside joke,” she said to her friend. “It was quite an adventure.”
As they walked, Emily told Charlotte about their trip to Jeremy’s World, then gave her a brief account of what else had happened since they’d last seen her – their visits from Jeremy, Will’s leap across the ravine, and her own successful jump today.
“My word!” said Charlotte. “You have been busy.”
“It’s been exciting,” she said. “I think we’ll have Will Traveling soon. I can’t wait to show him around.”
“Just be careful – he won’t be able to protect you ‘off-World’ the way he can here,” Charlotte cautioned her.
“I know,” said Emily. “We’re just going to practice Skipping around Wysteria until things blow over. Sooner or later, Nathan will become infatuated with something else and forget about me. . . . Do you have any cute friends you could introduce to him? Maybe someone you don’t like very much?”
Charlotte laughed. “Sorry, dear – I’m afraid there’s no one I could do that to.” She thought for a moment, then muttered, “. . . Except maybe Daniel.
“It really makes me boil when I think about it,” she continued, angrily. “It’s criminal!
“. . . But I agree that it’s important to keep things harmonious. Eris is dangerous. Once she gets her foot in the door . . . .” Charlotte let her sentence die there.
“What about the other man?” Will asked. “Have you ever seen Daniel with someone who looks like that?”
“Hmm . . . . Not that I remember.”
“Daniel called him something,” said Emily. “. . . . ‘Anton’, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, I believe so,” he said. “Ring any bells?”
“. . . No,” said Charlotte. “But I’ll ask around – discretely, of course.”
Will felt satisfied with Charlotte’s responses regarding her relationship with Daniel. . . . But what was her connection to Lilly? Though Lilly’s comments had been vague, she was clearly wary of her.
He wanted to get Charlotte’s side of the story, while still being guarded about what he disclosed to her.
“In the tavern,” he said, bringing up the subject as casually as possible, “we talked to someone – a woman. Earlier that day, we saw her speaking with our visitor in the square. At first, we wondered if she might be some kind of accomplice.”
“One of your townspeople?” Charlotte asked.
“As far as I know . . . ,” said Will. “. . . Actually, you might remember her – from the other night, at the bonfire. She was serving drinks to the crowd . . . .” He paused to gauge her reaction. “. . . Emily thought she gave you a dirty look . . . .”
Will then saw the look of recognition in her eye.
“. . . Yes . . . ,” she said, as if her memory were hazy. “I think I know who you mean. . . . Did she give you any . . . useful information?”
“Well, it doesn’t appear she was helping him,” he replied. “In fact, according to her, she was trying to throw him off the scent.”
“And you believe her?”
“I think so,” he said. “She did help us during the fight. But we’re being careful – just in case.”
“. . . That’s probably a good idea,” she remarked.
“When we saw her the other night,” said Will, continuing to probe, “you mentioned that she looked familiar.”
“Did I?” she replied. “Hmm . . . . It’s possible I saw her earlier in the day when I was touring the town.”
Emily had suggested that. And it was a plausible explanation.
“Ok,” he said. “I just wondered if you had any reason to be suspicious of her.”
“Suspicious? . . . No, but . . .”
“. . . But what?” asked Emily.
“Oh . . . , nothing, really,” she said. “It’s just that . . . she’s quite the beautiful Creation, don’t you think?”
“Yes, she is,” Emily answered.
“I think if Will were my boyfriend,” Charlotte continued, “I might be jealous.”
She cast a quick glance at Will, who blushed inside. Then she laughed, passing off her remark as merely a joke.
Emily laughed, as well. “Well, she certainly has a thing for him,” she said, playfully bumping Will with her hip. “I’m sure if she had her way . . . .”
“No doubt,” muttered Charlotte, with no humor in her voice.
“At least she was polite to me,” said Emily. “And she came to my aid during the assault.”
“That’s nice,” she responded, forcing a smile.
“But you’ve never met her?” asked Will. “Actually talked to her?”
“. . . No, we have never spoken,” she said, measuring her words.
“. . . Then — ?”
“I should probably be going,” Charlotte suddenly announced, cutting Will’s question short.
“So soon?” asked Emily.
“Yes,” she said. “There are some people I want to talk to. . . . I assume Jeremy doesn’t know about this incident yet?”
“Not as far as I know,” said Emily. “Are you going to visit him?”
“Maybe. . . . I’ll see what I can learn from my friends who know Daniel, first.”
“Remember . . . ,” said Will.
“I know – don’t stir things up.”
“And don’t get yourself in trouble,” Emily added. “Will doesn’t need two fugitives hiding out here in Wysteria.”
Charlotte smiled at Emily, then captured Will’s eyes with hers. “No . . . ,” she said, sending him a quick wink, “he doesn’t need that.” Stepping forward, she clasped her arms around him. “Thanks for taking care of our girl.”
Will gave her a light squeeze and released her, but Charlotte held on and pressed herself tightly against his chest. He hesitated for a moment, then resumed his embrace. She inhaled deeply. He felt her heart beat, pulsing as if it were within him, sending waves of warmth from her body into his. And then there came another feeling – a faded memory.
“Sweet Dreams,” she said softly. Then, with a deep sigh, she released her hold, flashing him a tender smile before turning away to bid goodbye to Emily.
“I’m so glad you’re ok,” said Charlotte, as she and Emily hugged. “I’ll let you know if I learn anything.”
“Good luck,” said Emily, “but be careful.”
“I will,” she replied, backing up a few steps. “See you both soon.”
CHAPTER XXVI
Once they were alone, Emily turned to Will. “So . . . now what do you think?” she asked him.
“About . . . ?”
“Do you believe her?” she said.
Will thought for a second. “. . . Do you?” he asked.
“Well . . . , I don’t think she was untruthful,” she answered, choosing her words carefully. . . . But I get the feeling she’s holding something back.”
“With regard to Lilly?”
“Yes,” she said. “. . . There’s some kind of ‘girl thing’ going on between them.”
Will chuckled. “‘Girl thing’, huh?”
“Yes,” said Emily. “Some kind of rivalry – like they’re jealous of each other.”
“So you think they may have met before?” he asked.
“Before the festival?” she said. “. . . Maybe, although I don’t see how. It might just be an instinctive, ‘hormonal’ reaction – two alpha types, on each other’s territory.”
“But they inhabit completely different Worlds,” said Will. “One of them is a Dreamer, and the other is . . . , well . . . , I’m not sure what to call her . . . .”
“They’re both women, Will.”
Yes – both beautiful women. And despite their essential differences, Will sensed something similar when he looked into their eyes, and felt the same familiar comfort when he held them close.
He could explain what he felt from Lilly. For if she were a creature born from within him, a product – a reflection – of his deepest thoughts and emotions, then they had a natural and profound connection.
. . . But what about Charlotte? Clearly, her flirtatious manner was part of her personality, but there was a seductive element that seemed to go beyond that.
“Whatever it is,” said Emily, “I don’t think either one of them is dangerous. I believe they’re both ‘on our side’.”
Will nodded. Mysterious, perhaps – but faithful allies.
“I agree,” he said. “. . . But if there are things they aren’t telling us, secrets they don’t trust us with . . . , then how far should we extend our trust?”
“I see what you’re saying,” she replied. “Neither mis-trust, nor fully trust.”
“Until we know the whole truth, I think that’s the best approach,” he said.
“At least we now who our attackers were (one of them, at least), and why they were after me,” Emily pointed out, trying to close their discussion on a positive note.
“True,” he said.
However, though good to know, it gave Will little comfort; for it meant that others might follow, motivated by the price on her head.
“Now, shall we get back to our Body Control exercises?” he asked. “I think it was your turn to choose the game.”
“Sure,” said Emily. But after thinking for a moment, she had a change of mind. “. . . Actually . . . , why don’t we try Traveling, today – within Wysteria, of course.”
“That’s fine,” said Will. “But since I don’t know where to begin, you’ll have to take the lead and come up with a plan.”
“Alright,” she said. “Let me see . . . .” She paused and pondered, then proposed a course of action. “Let’s start by just trying to Skip somewhere. We’ll see what happens, and then go from there.”
Emily suggested they choose the square as their target destination.
“Here,” she said, offering Will her hand. “Hold on to me and try to let go of everything else.”
He took her hand and closed his eyes, putting his full attention on the feel of her fingers entwined with his. He pressed his palm against hers and tried to imagine their two spirits joined by a bond that was stronger than their physical grip.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“. . . Yes,” he answered.
“Breaking free will be the difficult part,” she told him, “but if we manage to make it into the Dark, start focusing on the fountain.” She took a deep breath. “Ok. I’m going to step through the door now.”
. . . There was a moment of stillness.
Will then felt a tug, though not from Emily’s hand, but from some force deep within him. His mind was being pulled from his body, and he tried to let it go; but some part of him resisted the separation. He then felt an uncomfortable pressure in the pit of his stomach and a tingling sensation in his joints. The discomfort turned to pain, growing more intense as it radiated out into his extremities.
Just when it seemed he would be torn apart, the pressure in his torso lessened, and the pain in his arms and legs began to subside.
Will opened his eyes and saw that they hadn’t moved from the garden.
“What happened?” he said, feeling dazed and disoriented, as if he’d just been roused from a deep sleep.
“I’m not sure,” said Emily. “I started to enter the Dark, but I couldn’t get all the way in. It was like . . . I was attached to big rubber band – the more I stretched it, the more it resisted.”
“It felt that way to me, too,” he said, “. . . except that I was the rubber band – and I was about to snap.
“. . . Was it . . . painful for you?” Will asked her.
“Not painful,” she said, “just frustrating – like being stuck in the mud, spinning my wheels.”
“Good,” he said, with a sigh of relief.
“Why? Was it for you?” she asked. “Physically painful?”
“I felt like a tree being uprooted from the ground,” he replied. “It was very . . . unpleasant.”
“I’m so sorry!” said Emily. “I should have stopped sooner. Are you ok, now?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said. “It seemed to be working, at first. I felt the pull, and I tried to follow, but then . . . .” He paused to think how best to describe it. “It was as if I were being pulled through an opening that was much too small for my body.”
“That sounds awful,” she said, sympathetically. “. . . So . . . , what should we do now?”
“. . . I think we should try again,” he answered.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“You didn’t give up after your first attempt to reach the branch yesterday,” he reminded her.
“I just don’t want to end up standing next to the fountain holding hands with a bloody arm,” she remarked.
Will laughed at the image. He knew she was joking, but then he began to wonder . . . .
Emily seemed to read his thoughts. “No, Will – that couldn’t happen,” she said, with confidence. She hesitated for a moment then amended her statement. “. . . I don’t think that could happen.”
“Let’s hope not,” he said.
“So, should I do anything differently?” she asked.
“Can you . . . pull harder?”
“No,” she answered, “I don’t think so.”
“Then just keep going,” he told her.
“Ok,” she said, reluctantly, “but give me a signal if you want me to stop. If it gets too painful, let go of my hand.”
After taking a moment to recover, they joined hands and tried again.
This time, Will was prepared for the pain. But when it came, as it did before, it was no less excruciating. Though he held on to Emily for as long as he could, hoping she might pull him free, he finally had to release his grip and end the tug-of-war.
Emily released his hand and opened her eyes. “. . . Same feeling?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Will, as the pain retreated from his body. “I can feel my mind, my inner self, trying to leave, but my body feels rooted here. It won’t let me go.”
“I don’t know what to say that might help,” she lamented. “It’s such an automatic thing for me. I don’t think about how I’m doing it – it just happens.”
“Do you feel like you’re leaving your body?” he asked, trying to find some clew that might lead him out of his World.
“Not really,” she said. “I don’t leave it . . . , because there’s nothing to leave. It simply ceases to exist when I step into the Dark.”
What she said made perfect sense. When he left Wysteria each night to return home, he felt no part of him resisting his departure. He merely surrendered to the call of sleep.
Will felt stymied. . . . But he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“. . . One more time,” he said, resolutely.
Emily smiled. “It’s your call, dear. Just let me know when you’re ready,” she said, taking his hand again.
Will took a few seconds to prepare, imagining himself without a body – a mind without spatial extension, without a location, without boundaries. Then he whispered, “Go ahead.”
Again, he felt the dull thump in his gut as Emily began to pull. He did his best to shed the physical shell that bound him to his World, and for a moment, it seemed he might succeed. For he caught a glimpse of the Blackness – as if he were peeking through a doorway.
And yet, he could not enter. His body would not relinquish its hold, would not leave his mind free to follow Emily into the Dark. And then came the pain.
To carry on with the struggle seemed pointless. Will could have held out longer, but seeing that he was going nowhere, he let go his grip on Emily’s hand.
For a second or two, she continued to pull. Then, he felt her fingers begin to lose their hold, and suddenly the connection between them was broken.
Will opened his eyes and found himself alone among the trees. Emily was gone.
Where was she? Had she been pulled back to her bed? . . . No. She was still here, in Wysteria . . . , somewhere . . . .
“She’s in the square!” he realized.
. . . But then she was gone.
Before his confusion could turn to alarm, however, Emily returned, crystallizing from a cloud of mist.
“Welcome back!” he said, relieved and smiling.
“Did you miss me?” she asked.
“Of course,” he answered. “So, you left without me, huh?”
“I slipped,” she explained. “I was trying to pull as hard as I could, and when you let go, I lost my grip. Before I could ‘put on the brakes’, my momentum carried me to the fountain.”
“I still couldn’t leave,” Will told her, “. . . but it was different this time. I saw the Dark – felt it begin to surround me. My body just refused to let go.”
“Pain again?”
“. . . Yes.”
“Well, don’t be discouraged,” Emily said to him. “Remember – it took Jeremy a while to learn how to Tunnel through his World. I had hoped we might be able to pull it off today, but only because you’re you – and full of surprises.”
Will, too, had been hopeful and couldn’t help feeling some disappointment. He wasn’t discouraged, however.
“. . . I’ll figure it out,” he said, pulling Emily close and kissing the side of her head.
“I know you will,” she replied.
CHAPTER XXVII
“Greetings!” said Emily, as Will emerged in the square the next night. “Beat you!”
“Yes, you did – but I took a detour,” he told her.
“You tried your ‘bouncing thing’ again?” she asked.
